Agriculture Victoria’s Monitoring Wind Erosion in the Victorian Mallee survey data summary for 2022 is now available online in the lead up to a webinar on June 13, which will present current wind erosion survey results and the seasonal outlook.

Agriculture Victoria’s Land Management Extension Officer, Martin Hamilton said the importance of this 5-year study in Victoria’s hottest and driest region shouldn’t be understated.

“Wind erosion directly impacts the viability of agricultural land by exposing plant roots, burying plants or blowing them out of the ground, and impacts seasonal production.

“Agriculture Victoria has been monitoring ground cover, wind erosion and land management in the Victorian Mallee since 2019.

“This new data adds weight to a long-running and comprehensive study of conditions that affect the likelihood of wind erosion such as ground cover in paddocks, grazing and crop management, pre-existing erosion, seasonal and climatic conditions,” Mr Hamilton said.

“Underlying factors such the Victorian Mallee’s soil type and wind erosion susceptibility are also considered.”

Mr Hamilton said key insights from the 2022 roadside surveys and satellite imagery data analysis include:

• Cereal crops still dominate as the major ground cover at 70.8%.
• Legume crops make up 21.8% in the dryland farming areas and are at a four year high.
• The target threshold 64.9% for area protected from wind erosion was met for the third year running assisted by favourable weather which increased natural vegetation.

Mr Hamilton is pleased to see many farmers working to retain groundcover by growing ryecorn or lupins on dune crests and vetch hay or cereals in paddock depressions, as well as modifying sowing practices to maximise biomass when cutting for hay.

“Best practice land management by farmers will be the key to retaining ground cover to mitigate against wind erosion and we encourage everyone to tune into our webinar on June 13, at 12 p.m. to learn more,” he said.

The project has been supported by Mallee Catchment Management Authority through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

To register for the webinar visit the event listing on the Agriculture Victoria website. 

To learn more about the erosion study, visit: https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/farm-management/soil/erosion

This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 6 June 2023.